National Blog

Rand Paul in The Boston Herald: Barron not qualified for fed bench

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) writes in The Boston Herald today about why he is opposing David Barron's nomination to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Barron is the author of a controversial memo justifying the extrajudicial killing of American citizens overseas. From The Boston Herald:

There is no valid legal precedent to justify the killing of an American citizen not engaged in combat. In fact, one can surmise as much because the legal question at hand has never been adjudicated.

The courts have examined due process rights of individuals actually captured on a battlefield, but no court has ever reviewed whether an American citizen can be killed without legal representation or a trial. That is precisely why I cannot support placing professor Barron on the appellate court.

I would much rather appoint a lifetime federal judge with heroic qualities, one who had the courage to tell the president that there is no legal precedent or constitutional authority for killing an American citizen not engaged in combat and that the Supreme Court should decide the question in open court.